Women's Volleyball

Notre Dame Volleyball Ranked 17th in Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll

Irish Check in at 18th in Preseason Volleyball Magazine Poll

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame women's volleyball team is a consensus top-20 team heading into the 1997 season, following the release of the preseason polls by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and Volleyball magazine.

Notre Dame, which returns five of six starters from the 1996 team that finished 22-12, is ranked 17th in the preseason USA Today/AVCA preseason poll and 18th by Volleyball magazine. The '97 Irish finished 25th in the final AVCA poll, re-entering the poll after a five-game loss to then-#12 Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Irish made the biggest jump of any team receiving votes in the final '96 AVCA poll, rising eight spots, while UCLA has re-entered the AVCA poll (at 21st) after suffering through an off-year in 1996.

Notre Dame entered the '96 season as a consensus top-10 team in both polls for the first time in the program's history. Major injuries to three starters, including current senior setter Carey May and current senior hitter Angie Harris, took their toll on the '96 Irish, who fell out of the AVCA top 25 on Nov. 12, 1996 (ending a streak of 66 consecutive weeks in which the Irish were ranked).

Defending NCAA champion Stanford is #1 in the AVCA preseason poll, after receiving 58 of 60 first-place votes. Penn State is #2 and received the other two first-place votes while 1995 NCAA champion Nebraska is ranked #3 in the AVCA preseason poll. The AVCA poll's other top-10 preseason teams include #6 Michigan State, #8 Brigham Young and #10 University of the Pacific.

Volleyball magazine's preseason poll matches the AVCA top five, with the following changes in the rest of the top 10: #6 BYU, #7 Michigan State, #8 Washington State and #9 Texas A&M (the magazine also has UOP in the 10th spot). Other '97 Notre Dame opponents in the Volleyball magazine preseason top 20 include #11 UCSB and #13 Texas (Wisconsin and Louisville were two of three other teams that received votes in the preseason Volleyball magazine poll).

Notre Dame's 1997 home schedule includes eight teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA poll. The Irish open their season by playing host to the Shamrock Invitational (Aug. 29-30), which will include 1996 NCAA Tournament teams Louisville, Oral Roberts and Wisconsin. Notre Dame will play host to five teams that participated in the 1996 NCAAs, including Florida (Sept. 8) and Texas A&M, which will take part in the Tournament of Champions on Sept. 19-20 at the Notre Dame Joyce Center. The '97 home slate includes three other matches against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA poll: Illinois State (Oct. 7), North Carolina (Oct. 17) and Pittsburgh (Nov. 9).